Here is a transcript generated by Otter.ai of The Content Mix podcast interview with VeraContent’s Kyler Canastra and Mário Costa, marketing and communications director at MANZ, on the importance of listening to your customers:

Kyler Canastra 0:03
Hi everyone, I’m Kyler from The Content Mix, and I’m excited to be here with Mario Costa, Marketing and Communications Director at MANZ. With over 14 years of experience in marketing and communication, Portuguese-native Mario has worked in a number of international roles such as serving as a senior Global Brand Manager at Metro Ag in Germany, and leading digital transformation as a digital and branding manager at Makro Portugal. Recently, Mario started his role at MANZ, a leading fitness company in Portugal. So today, we’re excited to learn more about Mario’s career and gain some insight from his diverse and interesting experience. So without further ado, I want to welcome Mario to the show. Thank you so much for joining us, Mario on The Content Mix.

Mário Costa 0:45
Thanks for having me, Kyler. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Kyler Canastra 0:47
Our pleasure. So I gave you a nice introduction, based on the research I did before the interview to prep. But I would love for you to introduce yourself, in your own words. So can you tell us a bit more about who you are? And where you’re from? And what’s your connection to content marketing here in Europe?

Mário Costa 1:02
Yeah, absolutely. So I’m Mario, precisely. I’m from from Portugal. I’m from Porto, from the north of Portugal. I’m now Lisbon based. And my company is in Lisbon, but I’m from from Portland. But I worked also in Germany for three years, before coming coming back to Lisbon. And my role about content marketing was always a very profound role, especially because my side of marketing, it’s all about communication and select communities, customer centric. And so for me content, it’s very important to really tackle the right message to the right audience. It’s all about content in the end. And across all the companies that I work for, since I’m working in marketing, content always played a very important role for me. So I was always when I think about marketing, I immediately think about contents. And so for me, it’s a very natural part of the process for me. And it was always like that, since I’m working in marketing, so it was always a very natural process.

Kyler Canastra 2:00
Yeah. It’s funny, I was in Porto this weekend, this past weekend, so if people would have listened, are listening now, it’s a beautiful city. And I just, you know, moved to Lisbon, which I think I’ve mentioned a couple of times on the show. But I was like, Oh, Porto is really nice. Should I move there? I’m happy in Lisbon.

Mário Costa 2:20
Both cities are different and very beautiful. Both of them are wonderful, pros and cons on both sides.

Kyler Canastra 2:27
And it’s something that you mentioned too. And I was going to talk about this. And the next question I had prepared was that your career was really customer focused. Now, you started your career in customer attention for Vodafone, which is obviously a very well known company, which led you to continue to pursue your interests in communications and public relations as a marketing communications executive at Porto Editora. So you did your initial experience working with like the whole idea of retaining customers and really understanding who they are and how to keep them at Vodafone? In this case, spark an interest in marketing and understanding what kinds of content are best suited for specific target audiences? Because this is something that’s so, you know, important in content marketing, it’s understanding who you’re trying to connect with.

Mário Costa 3:09
Yeah. And you’re right, it was the kickoff of my passion for marketing, started precisely at Vodafone. Yeah. Because in my role of the customer retention, I really understood the importance of customer, and how marketing, especially a good content, good brands can really change the perception of the customer towards the brand, then the results are completely different, the financial results. So this to prove that customer relation and content strategies are completed connected to business. So it’s not just about branding and visuals and so on about copy, nice copy. No, it’s about business. And I understood that in such a big brand, like Vodafone. And that was the moment when I realized that I would like to continue my profession in marketing field because my studies were from journalism. I started my career as a freelance journalist working for a small publisher. And then in my experience in Vodafone, I really realized the importance of strong brands. I love brand that you can even consider and how content and the good customer strategy can really change business. And it’s about money. And so this is how I realized that yeah, this is my niche. This is where I really want to pursue my career. So Vodafone was the spark that started, that ignited my passion for marketing for sure.

That’s amazing. You said, I feel like a lot of people in content marketing have a journalism background, what led you to Vodafone into that role?

At that time, it was an opportunity because I wanted to start in a big company in a multinational company. This is what I wanted to start my profession. I was just getting finished. I just finished my studies in the university and I wanted to start in a big company. And so Vodafone, the opportunity came and so I started in the completely connection to customers, I started in the call center. So I was really receiving the calls from customers, so really understanding how they were behaving in the different types of customers, then I went even to the company’s customers, not only end customers. So it was a really nice experience, because I realized that I connect very, very close to the customers. And know the power that the Vodafone has as a brand and the marketing strategy that they have. And really, it’s limitless. So it was really, really an awesome experience for me to start working in this kind of field and then improving it, continuing my studies in the marketing area. Vodafone was an opportunity that came in my life. And then it changed because then I moved to marketing, from journalism to marketing.

Kyler Canastra 5:38
This bridge right to the next year in your career. Now you said, you know, in the call center, you had direct contact with the buyers of people that were the customers at Vodafone. Now, I guess what did you learn from that direct communication with them that you can now apply? It’s like kind of, you fully understood the buyer persona, because you were talking to them. So I guess, what did you get from that experience that you still apply to this day in your role?

Mário Costa 6:01
I think there was one thing was about the clear hearing of the customer needs. Yeah, cause sometimes, it’s not just about what they say, it’s about what they want to say. And this is very important as a marketing professional to understand what customers really want and not necessarily what they say. Because sometimes it’s about feelings, it’s about ways of being in that moment in life. And what I really learned about this experience with customers, was that you really need to listen, really not just hear. Listen, right. And this is what the my best learning from Vodafone is how to be sure you really listen to your customers, and then starting from that to really create the strategy towards the business. So for me was the key takeaway that I received from Vodafone experience, contacting directly with customers.

Kyler Canastra 6:51
For sure. I think it’s such a useful experience too, because having that contact. A lot of times too, I feel like there’s a lot of disconnect, you know, with the people that are, you know, these marketing executives who are trying to implement these campaigns, and they just forget to simply listen to what people want. So it’s like you having that contact, although it seems like a simple… you’re in a call center and dealing with them, but those are the key takeaways that you have used now, right in your career. And throughout your career, as I mentioned before, too, in the beginning, in the intro, you’ve worked in a number of different areas, which I found fascinating. So you were working in media and telecommunications, fitness, publishing, even wine, which is appropriate here from Porto. Now. There are marketers, right, who prefer to stick with one area of expertise. So you know, one person might just work in one sector. And that’s what they want to do, because they think it might, you know, be more beneficial to them because they can really fine tune and understand the product they’re trying to sell. Now, you on the other hand, on the contrary, you’ve had a very diverse work experience, you’ve kind of put yourself in different situations, which I find really admirable and interesting, because it’s kind of putting yourself in new situations and constantly challenging yourself to learn new tools, and understand new products and new buyer personas. So, have you found this to be like advantageous, during your like, throughout your career? And what are some skills you acquire through the opportunities that you’ve had working in so many different areas?

Mário Costa 8:13
I mean, you almost answered the question, because the thing is that both scenarios are fine. As long as you are happy, it doesn’t matter if you stick with your business area for many years, you just change companies or even in the same company, or if you change the business feels dramatically like or drastically like they’re like, not dramatically, drastically like I did. Because I… one of the biggest reasons why I love working in marketing is precisely that, because you don’t need to be a specialist of any specific field or area, to be a good professional, and to really love what you do to work with the branding that you work with, because you have of course the theoretical basis, the experience, and then you just need to be in love with the brand, in love with the company, in love with the customers and then everything is easier for you. And I’m this kind of person. So when I when I feel that I’m in love with with the brand that I’m working with, everything is easier. And making it different and change the business areas. It’s something that really makes me challenging myself every day, you know, because especially in the company than I am right now and look, this company, the big company, we are fitness specialists, we start within the fitness field, but we also work in events like Japanese pop culture, for example. And we also sell wine. And we also are in a different business that we cannot reveal right now. But we are developing new business areas. And this is amazing because one day I’m thinking about the strategy to talk to fitness people and the next hour I’m talking about how to talk to people that live on eBay and manga and cartoons. It’s beautiful. I’m never bored. So that’s why I like to change areas within marketing because I can always challenge myself every day. This is amazing.

Kyler Canastra 9:59
It seems like you’ve found a job that kind of reflects what you like, as a professional, being able to have contact with so many different people, but also different products and kind of using your mind in new creative ways, which I think is important right to say, I feel like challenge in your, and learning, I think the best marketers are those right, who are looking to learn and to listen, which is something that we talked about in the beginning. Now, I think a part of your pursuit of, you know, looking for new opportunities and new challenges, you moved to Germany. So you lived there for three years, and you worked as the Social Global Brand Manager at Metro AG. And for those who haven’t heard of Metro AG, this leading international wholesale company, focuses on food and non-food assortment and specializes in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants and caterers, as well as independent traders. In there, you worked on the end-to-end communication, coordination of global branding campaigns to support 26 different countries. Yeah, so around the globe. So that’s a lot. First of all, that’s a lot, 26 countries is a lot. And you know, now that you know the name of the game is localization, and making sure your marketing campaigns really connect with the audiences. So you’re doing that in 26 countries. That’s a lot. So I wanted to know, as someone from Portugal too, like the first part of the question is, how is it working for a German company? Cause I feel like it’s a very different culture, and working in an international business, like work environment is very different. And then, so then also, how is it doing like to work in so many different markets?

Mário Costa 11:28
Yeah, I mean, working for a German company, it’s a great experience, because it really forces you to have a structure that by default, we the Southern Europeans, are more relaxed. You know, we can do that later. No, let’s just talk… No, no, we need to structure things. Because we work in a field with a lot of ideas, a lot of input from everywhere, from customers, colleagues, business leaders. So we need to be structured, we need to find the correct path, we can change, of course, we need to find the path. And the German culture is a lot about processes, it’s a lot about structure. And so working in the in the German company, it was a very international company. So I was surrounded by a lot of international people. But anyhow, the culture, the German culture is there. And I think it was a very positive experience because of that. That, of course, we always learn and then can put in practice in other companies, like I’m doing right now in my new company, for example. So working with 26 countries, comes along with what I said before, it’s about challenging, about changing things, and about changing the mindset, because it’s completely different when you create the content strategy for Portugal, Spain, France, and then for Japan, and Kazakhstan and India and Pakistan, right? It’s completely different. Because the people are different, the culture is different, the habits are different, even the business type is different. So for me, it was very challenging. But at the same time, this is what I like to do in marketing is to really make sure that the message and the content you create is the one that is correct. And then value for your customer or the customer in those countries. So it was a tremendous experience to work for 26 countries. So different.

Kyler Canastra 13:09
Now, how did you like know, for example, in Japan, like how did you know what they were looking for? And how you connect? Was it through research? Was it through talking to, you know, the people, the customers that you had there? How did you go about that?

Mário Costa 13:20
It was about two things. For sure. Talking with customers is a little bit more tricky, because I don’t speak the language. But of course, we have the marketing of local colleagues. And it was very important to talk with the colleagues in the local markets, it’s very important that they are close to their customers. Yeah. So they really understand them, they know them. But for me being in a global position, it doesn’t make sense to create a strategy and specifically a content strategy without knowing the reality of the customers. And they don’t need to speak the languages, you need to talk to the right people that are close to the customers, and then the marketing colleagues in the countries that are fundamental to that. And then, of course, a lot of international researchers as well. A lot of research companies that can really help about getting the right data, the right insights before creating a strategy, right. So you need to do to both ways, talk with with local colleagues that are really close to the customers. And also do it in a more methodical approach, right? Because when you talk to your local colleagues, it’s a lot about the empiric side of the experience, that you really hear them, you really are with them, which is very important. But you need data to create a proper insights, and then the research companies are fundamental to do better. Combine both, combine both sources of information.

Kyler Canastra 14:37
Did you incorporate a lot of like trial and error in that as well, because I feel like from the interviews I’ve done, either it’s people that are like, you have to do the research and then get the data, which I agree with both sides kind of in a way of like, you have to have the structure and everything and then you implement the strategy while some people were like, we’ll just try different things and see what gets better. You know what I mean, so I don’t know if that’s something that you did as well and something that you believe in.

Mário Costa 14:58
Yeah, I’m a very gut feeling person. So I always try to follow my gut, which sometimes is wrong. It is. It is. I mean, that’s true. So that’s why you need to find the right balance. There is no right or wrong. These people that only focus on the research, on the data, they tend to lose this kind of emotion because we are different, right. And when you see the big picture, you don’t see the one to one connection, that only by knowing the person you have. So it’s very important to find the right balance, right? So sure, it also depends on the level of decision you need to make. But trying to combine both sources of information, the analytical, cold side and the warm feeling of knowing the people, it’s the best strategy you can have. It’s about combining, it’s about balance.

Kyler Canastra 15:46
Yeah, everything in life is about balance.

Mário Costa 15:51
Yeah.

Kyler Canastra 15:51
For sure. Now, you mentioned right that you move back to Portugal recently, and now working for MANZ. So this is obviously a market you know well. And for those who don’t know about the company, it started in 1991. And it has always been tied to the world of fitness as what you said before. It has a philosophy based on holistic view of the general well being of Portuguese people. So it promotes a healthier lifestyle and… they really focus on culture as well. And kind of, like you said, have cultural offerings and also offer like, you know, quality and fun products. So why did you decide after you know, living in Germany for three years to move back to Portugal? And what are your main responsibilities in your new role, and what’s a typical day like at work for you now?

Mário Costa 16:33
You will understand in this conversation, it’s a lot about challenging myself, it’s a lot about changing the mindset almost every day. When I saw this opportunity to come to two MANZ and come back to Portugal, it was especially because of the challenge of the project. Because as you said, we are here since 1991. We started in the fitness field, we are leaders in the fitness training and in the fitness events. So we organized the biggest fitness event in Portugal, the Portugal Fits. And but then at the same time, when I saw the portfolio of the company, we are also in the Japanese pop cultural events, right, and then in the wine business, and then in another business that we’re going to work with. So I mean, when I saw this, this is my type of role, I want this, I need to be there, this is the kind of job I want to do. And then of course, the responsibilities that I have here of being a director is to coordinate the full strategy in such different business areas and customers are completely different, target audiences. So being a director, I need to have this kind of responsibility to make sure that the way we communicate that the content that we have, the channels that we choose, are the right ones to the right audience. And so and this is basically my day to day, to really create the proper content strategy, the channel strategy, follow up, where we do analyze the results, change what we need to change to go into the right direction. And but I mean, what is really funny is like in the morning, I’m just approving content for fitness content that we have. And now we are thinking about the Christmas campaign for the Japanese pop events. And tomorrow we’re launching the Black Friday for this wine brand. So it’s a little bit crazy.

Kyler Canastra 18:20
But it keeps you on your toes.

Mário Costa 18:23
Absolutely. This is really, really nice, really.

Kyler Canastra 18:25
It’s really awesome. Are you working with like a lot of different teams to help do that? Like, do you have like one team for like the fitness and one team for, how does that work in terms of your teams?

Mário Costa 18:33
Yeah, I have my marketing team that I work with. And then we have the business areas that have their own people. And we work very close together, we really need to do that. Because they have the connection, again, the connection to the customers, and they have, they are connected directly to them. So it’s very important for us to be together with the customers as well. So they are a tremendous source of information for us. So before we create any kind of strategy, we will always work with them. And then we share the strategy to make sure that what we are doing is really on the points to our customers. So I think in all the companies and marketing teams, they need to work together with other business fields. Yeah. You know that a lot of things in marketing is a lot about ego as well. And because you know, marketers, we all love to do what we do. And then we are proud of what we do. And sometimes we are a little bit tense when we want to share things with others because we need to be open to criticism, we need to be open to new ideas, because if it’s just for improvement. And especially in this company where we have so many different fields. We need to work together. And this is my what I always say to my team. Talk to them, let’s talk to them. Let’s let’s get their input. And then, let’s do the right strategy. Absolutely. Yeah,

Kyler Canastra 19:50
I feel like that’s a motto that we can apply right to life in general is to be open to feedback and to open to hear people’s ideas. Although maybe your ideas are really good for you. They could be like the best. But it’s always good to hear that and have that conversation and learn from others, you might learn something that you didn’t expect.

Mário Costa 20:07
Yeah, and have fun. One of the things that the general manager said to me here was, then we have a company that we need to have fun, because we love what we do. So it’s about having fun. In the end, it’s just a job. And so we need to make sure that what we do, but it’s a lot of time in the day, so we need to really make use of it. Have fun, but you do. And for that, don’t put yourself in your dogmas, in your ideas, in your prejudice, just have fun.

Kyler Canastra 20:34
When you have fun, that kind of like it manifests right in the work that you’re doing. So if it has fun, then people will actually think it’s a great company. And it kind of just brings the vibe. No, it makes a better vibe for the company. Awesome. So I’m glad that it’s going well, because I know you recently started there. And yeah, just one month. Yeah, so it’s been a good transition. And you’re back home. That’s good. Now, I always ask this question too, I’m just curious. But what’s an example of a campaign or a piece of content that’s worked really well for you? And why? And it also could be one that works very poorly. So whichever one you want to choose.

Mário Costa 21:09
Absolutely. I have two that for me, are the most iconic campaigns that have developed together with my colleagues, I can mention this too. One was precisely in Porto Editora which is the largest publisher in Portugal. And so before I moved to Lisbon, this is a Porto-based company, before I moved to Lisbon, I worked there. And it was all about contents, that why I think I would like to highlight this strategy. And this campaign, because we have this audience and like we got the parents and the students, because we were focusing more on the educational side of the publishing. And but this public, this audience, were not being communicated that well. And so we’ve created together with my team, we’ve created the full content strategy, it was all about content, like newsletter subscription with articles that were being sent every month, every week, if I’m not mistaken, with the right content to the right age that the son or the daughter was in. So we were talking to parents and saying, Hey, look, your kid is six years old. So he’s now going to his first year of school, here are the best recommendations to deal with the topic. And then the next year, and the next year, and the next year, and so on, and so on. And it was all about content. Of course, there was in the end some product connection, because we had the products to solve the needs that they were having. But in general it was a full content strategy. And in the one to one super, hyper personalized communication about the kids, and about the parents. And it was a one to one talk as a brand that we were having. And this was almost 12, 13 years ago. So for us, and specifically for me, it was all about content. And it’s still today, it’s alive, I still receive the newsletters, it’s still working. So it’s working. And it’s super, super nice that I was together with my colleagues and the leader of this project. And then I guess, together here, the last ones in the Metro group in the Metro AG company, working for 26 markets, and developing campaigns that are completely activated across all the markets is challenging. But we are, I was very happy. And again, it is always a joint work. Yeah, nobody does anything alone, right. So it was really nice to work together with the countries at the time to develop their own business day, which is very about celebrating own businesses, about celebrating entrepreneurs, about having their own business, and especially nowadays, where they struggle to stay alive to survive. In such a big international company, having a voice that we are the ones that will always there and keep supporting them. And then we’ve created this day, and we’ve developed content to support them, and strategies to support them, for them to be alive. I mean, this is what brands should do. It’s not just about selling products, right? It’s about being right to your customers when they need, both ideas in both projects in both companies. It was all about that, in the end is about being together with them. Because brands can be humans, you know, and this is what always we’re trying to do in marketing is to humanize the brand and so on. And through content and both ideas are about content through content, you can really do that. So I’m going to share about these two campaigns about these two brands, because that’s representated in also what we like.

Kyler Canastra 24:35
That’s fantastic. It seems like from that from what I can pull too, like two big things is like kind of understanding your client right or your customer and like kind of segmenting your content in a campaign to make sure that it goes to the right people at the right time to make sure they have value in it. But also this idea of collaboration, collaborating with, like you said, the people in the different markets that you’re working with at Metro Ag and then also this like kind of collaborating with the buyers and the people that are interested in the company. Now, my next question is, that kind of leads me to the next question. So those are things I’m sure that you think are important right for a company to do when implementing a marketing campaign or a new strategy. But what are some things you think companies get wrong nowadays when it comes to content marketing?

Mário Costa 25:19
Yeah. I think it’s about creating content without listening to your customers, right? Because it’s also when you read textbooks from marketing from the 80s and from the 90s. Everybody talks about this myopia that the marketers have that they don’t, they think that what they are saying is the right strategy. And they develop a content strategy without really understanding if it’s needed in the markets, if the customers are really in need of this kind of content. So we see a lot of content strategies and marketing strategies to be more broad, that in the end, don’t work. And the reason why is that you didn’t listen to your customers before, before doing that. And there are still companies that do that for many different reasons. Some are lucky to do that. Because if they fail, there is no problem in the budgets or in the financial system of the company. Others don’t do just because they don’t know how to do it, right. And in the end it’s not about resources, you can look, I worked in huge companies, big companies, small companies, and it’s not about budgets, it’s about really listening to your customers and developing the right content strategy for them. So it’s really important that you listen to them and be close to them. Go out, go to your customers. Go there, visit them, talk to them. And then you get the feeling and really, I said that I’m a very gut feeling person, and then get the feeling on how to really do that. So be close to where your customers are, be there.

Kyler Canastra 26:46
Yeah. And listen, and open your ears… So you mentioned some things right, that companies should be doing in their marketing and content marketing. Now, a lot of people that listen to the podcast, I mean, we have a very, like your career itself, diverse range of listeners, who are people who are, you know, have a lot of marketing experience, or you know, are just starting out. And, uh, but I think this next question that I usually try to ask all the time, which is what skills do you think are more most important for marketers nowadays, especially those starting out? I always ask that because I think it’s important that we kind of just reflect a bit because I think, yeah, we could, like you said, We’re marketers, and you might have great ideas. But sometimes it’s important to reflect on kind of what are the basics? What’s the foundation? So in your opinion, what skills do you think are like the most important to have nowadays, if you want to be a successful marketer?

Mário Costa 27:38
Yeah, I think it’s a very good question, because it also depends on the level… of your experience, because if you’re just starting to be to be a marketeer, and I guess you need to be very humble, and you need to be together with your colleagues. Understand that there are people that know more than you, there will always be people that know more than you. So you really need to, anytime in the process of your life, you need to be humble and understand and listen to what other colleagues have to say. And I’m always highlighting this listen part, not because this is a podcast, but because it’s really important to listen. And it doesn’t matter if you really know the best, how to create the best digital strategy. I mean, this is not that hard, you just need to learn. You can even watch some YouTubes and do some free online courses, and then suddenly you’re a paid media expert. But it’s not about that, right? It’s really about being close. And listen to your colleagues that know more than you in the different areas and listen to your customers as well. So if someone is starting out working in marketing, I would say the best capacity, the best skill that you need to do is the capacity to listen and take notes, write, think about it, and then do it. And then don’t be afraid of doing it and fail because everybody fails. And you know you’re not…. risk it. Because if you’re afraid of failing, you don’t risk it. And then the worst thing that the marketeer can do is to not risk it. That’s the worst thing we can do. So risk it. So listen, risk it and be humble. That’s the most important skills for a marketer.

Kyler Canastra 29:20
And I feel like the whole idea of listening right has become a common thread throughout the conversation. But it’s been true.

Mário Costa 29:25
If you want to highlight something because of me, it’s probably this is a default from Vodafone because Vodafone was a lot about listening. And so probably this was a stamp in my market attitude…

Kyler Canastra 29:43
For sure, it’s become a habit for you to listen. Now. I kind of want to shift the interview a bit more, less from like the do’s and don’ts of marketing but more and speaking of habits of more about yourself . So I kind of wanted to know if you have any daily habits that you would attribute to your success that you could share our audience. So people will say, you know, yoga or I wake up and do this, or I have a to-do list and simple things. It can be simple, it can be different. But what do you do on a daily basis that you think helps you have more success in the workplace and in life?

Mário Costa 30:15
I would love to tell you this kind of beautiful stories that I started my morning with a nice cup of tea. And I listen to the birds singing, and I do my meditation. No, I’m not that kind of special, fantastic person. But I do have my habits. And what I really do, I start, I start the morning reading the news. So for me, the general news, not about marketing news. But it’s very important to stay up to date with what’s happening in the world, not only in my country, but in the world. So the first thing I do is read the news. That’s the first thing I do, then when I think that I really like to do is to stay up to date to the best practices and what’s happening in the marketing field. So I subscribe to a lot of newsletters and a lot of blogs and websites to really understand what’s new, because I always, things changing in the marketing field. And then I also would like to see what other brands are doing. So I also pay a lot of attention to what other brands are doing, not only in my field of interest, but in the different business areas. So I would say these three things, I start doing the news, it’s my first thing that I do, then I, during the day I read my newsletters, and then I see what other brands are doing. And this, I do it every day. This is like a habit. Yeah, but there is no for me at least No, no magic thing. But I think for me, I was thinking about that some days ago was about reading the news, when others seeing you reading the news, right? What do they think? That I don’t have anything to do? And this is sometimes especially in companies with some different mentality, especially in a country like Portugal, where there’s still a lot, a lot of mindset that needs to change in the companies. And probably from my German experience, this wasn’t happening at all. It’s about being informed. How can you have emotional sensitivity to the strategy you want to create if you don’t know what’s happening around you? If you just do office work, you don’t know what’s happening around. And how can you be close to people, if you don’t know what’s happening. So reading the news, I think it’s very important for everybody, but especially when you talk to people, when you create certaint things about people, read the news, know what’s happening,

Kyler Canastra 32:32
And it’s like a form of listening, right? If you know what’s going on in people’s countries in their societies, or whatever, you know, like not to implement the wrong campaign or that could be insensitive, or even to speaking as someone, maybe you have, cause now especially like we’re more global than ever, and have colleagues around the world. In some cases, it’s like, it’s good to know that maybe in this country, this is happening. So you know, to make sure you ask if they’re okay, or like how that’s going. So it’s just being more human, like, you know, human, I guess you could say.

Mário Costa 33:01
Unfortunately, Kyler, in the last years, we also see a lot of news that makes you think about life, which also helps you to make yourself distant from what you think is a big problem. And in the end it’s not that big a problem. And then the way you deal with life and the way we deal with our problems in your work day. It’s easier, because if you make this kind of comparison to make.. this is nothing, let’s do it. And this is not a problem. Let’s solve it. And because you have the knowledge that other scenarios are more complicated than what you think in your chair, you have this tendency to think about the easiness of life in the end for you, and it’s better for work. If you have fun.

Kyler Canastra 33:41
One hundred percent. Now you get inspiration right from the newsletters, or even from the news, things that you read. Now, I wanted to know too, if you have any, like professional role model or other sources of inspiration that inspire you.

Mário Costa 33:54
Yeah, it’s a good question. And I would like to stress out not famous and known persons but especially the the leaders that I had in the previous companies. If I’m in the leading position today, I always try to think about my former bosses that I had in the previous companies and I learned a lot from them. So if I would like to and if they listen to this podcast, they will because I will share it with them, they will see that this message is also for them. Because and when you’re humble, when you’re humble and you listen and talk to your colleagues, you learn and you improve and you can be where you aretoday if you will really learn from others. And I would like to, as a role model, my previous bosses, I was very lucky with all of them in all the previous companies, all of them, there is no exception. And for me when I do my job every day, and I need to make tough decisions because sometimes we need to make a decision. And I think how would this person do? You know, and I tried to put myself on her shoes or his shoes. And make these kind of decisions. So my role model was my previous bosses, this is the most boring… but it’s very important for me.

Kyler Canastra 35:09
And it’s like that whole idea of having a mentor and you know, having someone that you can look up to, it’s so important, because then you even but also like, you know, using your bosses, you don’t have a bad boss, right? And I’m sure, yeah, you were very lucky. But still, like, you can then take from that I don’t want if I supervise people, I don’t want to do this, or if I, you know, had the opportunity to do similar things to that boss, I wouldn’t do it that way. So it’s kind of, you know, even if you have a bad boss, it’s still good to like, learn from your colleagues and kind of absorb everything from them. But now, since we’re still on the, you know, talking about what to do and recommendations, do you have any other like recommendations in terms of apps or tools, books or platforms that you think helped you stay more productive, or helped you kind of stay on top of your game?

Mário Costa 35:55
I think to talk about apps and technological solutions, I think, again, this is going to be very repetitive, I’m always talking about listening, but having a monitoring tool, it’s very important for all of us that work around customers and content, because you cannot be everywhere at the same time, right. And in the business like we have right now we have so many pages and websites and different brands and different audiences that you need a one powerful tool that really help you to identify where the people are talking about you. And talk to them. Talk back. Not just see and not do anything. Talk to them. As a person, the branch should act as a person. So for me having a monitoring tool is something that’s it’s mandatory, it should be mandatory for any people at work, or any person that work arounds around customers. So yeah, it’s essential, it’s essential, it’s essential.

Kyler Canastra 36:52
Well, we’ve come to the end of the interview, unfortunately, cause I feel like I’ve learned a lot. And it’s really, it was great to get to connect with you and hear more about your career and kind of how that shaped who you are today. But do you have any final takeaways or a piece of advice that you’d like to share with the audience before we call it a day?

Mário Costa 37:09
I mean, I have the feeling that I said, so many things,

Kyler Canastra 37:14
Great advice in this interview…

Mário Costa 37:18
But again, I guess I’m going to repeat myself. And this is not just about bingo, it’s really about them. Be close to people, to customers, and to your colleagues. Listen to people because this the only way you can improve yourself and be a better human and a better professional. So listen. And stay together, especially nowadays, with Corona times that we lost a little bit of human connection behind, it’s about reconnecting now. So keep the health measures. Be safe, I don’t want create now a problem, but be together again. And nowadays there are ways for us to be together, we are doing this. And we are now together now, and we are connecting. So, do the same.

Kyler Canastra 38:07
Now we connected on LinkedIn. But I was wondering if anyone wanted to get in touch with you, is LinkedIn the best way to do that? Are you active on other platforms and channels?

Mário Costa 38:16
I have to say that LinkedIn is one of my favorites networks. When I’m more more available, I also love Twitter. It’s my second best. Look out for me it @sounds_force from my DJ background. So but actually, I get my nickname. But basically, Twitter and LinkedIn are the most used platforms where I am.

Kyler Canastra 38:43
Perfect. Again, I want to thank you so much Mário for sharing your insights with us today. And I also want to thank everyone for tuning in. So as always, I’m probably sounding very repetitive saying this but for more perspectives on the content marketing industry in Europe, check out Veracontent.com/mix and keep tuning into the podcast for more interviews with content experts such as Mário So we’ll see you all next time and thanks again for a great chat today.

Mário Costa 39:08
You’re welcome. It was a pleasure and be happy everybody. Caio. Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai